Economy

John Kenel: Rents continue to grind higher

Rental inflation over the past few years has been largely a supply and demand story based on high immigration. National average rent rises peaked in 2016 at 9%.

What’s pushing rents up now is more due to government policy changes and the need for landlords to raise rents to remain profitable.

Despite what our naive prime minister might think, most property investors own one or two properties and hold long term, rental income is a core reason for them holding property. They will continue to raise rents as long as they need to.

Expect rents to keep rising strongly over the next few years while the new policies settle in.